411 MMA Fact or Fiction 12.09.09: Kimbo's Future, TUF10 Entertainment, Penn/Sanchez & MORE!

Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 12.09.2009

Will Kimbo Slice win another UFC fight? Can Diego Sanchez take BJ Penn into the championship rounds? Is Liddell vs. Ortiz 3 more interesting than Griffin vs. Ortiz 3? 411's Larry Csonka and Dustin James debate these topics and more in this week's edition of 411 MMA Fact or Fiction!

December got off to a fast start The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale and things don't slow down as UFC 107 is this weekend.

Here to debate the fallout of TUF10 and preview UFC 107 we have the man, the myth, the legend, Kimbo Slice's favorite writer, THE Larry Csonka. His opponent is joining us from 5OZofPain, he loves his Ducks, he is Dustin James.

In the words of John McCarthy…LET'S GET IT ON!



1. Kimbo Slice will not win another fight in the UFC.

Larry Csonka: FICTION. Ugh, this is a hard one to pick, but I will have to go with Fiction. I think that the UFC realizes that Kimbo is a ratings draw, which is why he was invited to do The Ultimate Fighter Season 10. And his fight with Nelson delivered huge in the ratings. As of this writing I do not have the ratings info for the TUF 10 Finale, but if he did good ratings again, you have to figure that they would protect him. Kimbo is not a title contender, and never will be, but he is a good attraction for ratings, and they know this. I figure they will continue to throw out low level guys that are stand up fighters in order to ride out the Kimbo ratings while they can.

Dustin James: FICTION. Larry hit the nail on the head. I can honestly see Kimbo sticking with the UFC for awhile seeing as he's a HUGE ratings draw for the company. Dana White (and even Kimbo) know that Slice is never going to be a contender for a UFC title. With Slice's knee and his age showing signs of weakness, he's not going to be main eventing any UFC PPV's anytime soon. However, if the UFC can keep finding opponents that the "new and improved" Kimbo can defeat (there's A LOT of them out there....) then I can honestly see Kimbo having a good run with the UFC. The best plan of attack right now for the UFC would be to give Kimbo another fight that he stands a good chance at winning, then perhaps they could roll the dice on a possible Kimbo/Liddell fight in the future. While I know that Liddell would most likely MURDER Kimbo, that's still a fight that would sell on PPV....especially if Liddell can knock out Tito again.

SCORE: 1 for 1.

2. You're more interested in Liddell vs. Ortiz 3 over Griffin vs. Ortiz 3.

Larry Csonka: FACT This is an easy fact for me. I used to dig Forrest, but after his run Forrest run incident, I just don't enjoy his deal much anymore. But I AM a big Chuck Liddell fan, and while I do not want to see the man KO'd again, I do enjoy his fights. He and Tito have history, and having them coach the Ultimate Fighter should provide for some great TV. I also like that because they aren't tying up a title, which is one thing I have disliked about the show. The show should be entertaining, and while some aren't that excited about the fight, I feel that this is also the safest fight for Chuck to come back for. Basically, I had no desire to see Tito vs. Forrest III and the buyrate was reportedly only 330,000, so most fans were not interested in the second meeting. Chuck's return should bring in some good numbers, because he's Chuck.

Dustin James: FACT I really hate having to agree with Csonka twice in a row, but he's right again. When it comes down to mainstream stars in the UFC, Liddell and Ortiz may be the biggest names in the company. Some of the newer UFC fans are actually unaware that Liddell and Ortiz have squared off before seeing as it's been 3 years since they last fought. That's actually a good thing for the UFC.

This fight will interest people for three different reasons. The first reason is that the two should have some VERY interesting face-offs on next season of "The Ultimate Fighter". The second reason is that it's been three years since they last fought, so it will be very interesting to see if Liddell can knock Ortiz out for a third time. And last but not least, this fight will be interesting to see because it's NOT Griffin/Ortiz 3. I'm so sick of Forrest Griffin right now, I could puke. Book a Forrest/"Shogun" Rua rematch sometime down the line, PLEASE! I would personally love to see if Griffin could pull off that upset again........

SCORE: 2 for 2.

3. Brendan Schaub has the brightest future of any TUF10 fighter not named Roy Nelson.

Larry Csonka: FACT I think so. TITTIES didn't impress me at all and is reportedly off to the Army. Meathead Mitrione, as of now, doesn't seem to have the desire to be a serious fighter. Marcus Jones just started MMA way too late, if only he started in his 20's instead of in his 30's. McSweeney isn't too bad, but he needs to drop to 205 and also needs some cardio work, in my opinion, but he has some potential. But I have to say that Schaub is the one. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders, a good skill set and wants to improve. He did well for himself, especially surviving the onslaught from Big Baby on the show, but Nelson just was way too experienced for him. With some more work, and possibly a weight cut, I think Schaub has the most potential.

Dustin James: FACT. Ya, this one's pretty easy to answer. Brendan Schaub easily has the brighest future of any TUF10 fighter not named "Big Country". Hell, there were times leading up to the Nelson/Schaub fight that I actually got nervous for Nelson, thinking Schaub's training with Greg Jackson (the MASTER game planner) may be able to pay off. In the end though, Nelson was able to KO Schaub on his way to becoming the fattest "TUF" champion ever. As for fighters on the show who may have more potential than Schaub? Besides someone like Jon Madsen (who has superior wrestling skills) or perhaps even Justin Wren....I can't see any one from this season making a HUGE name for themselves in the UFC. Guys like McSweeney, Mitrione, Abe Wagner, Wes Sims, Wes Shivers, and Zak Jensen were just awful and I can't see any of those guys improving dramatically. Sorry, but it's the truth........

SCORE: 3 for 3.

Video Intermission



4. BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez will not make it to the championship rounds.

Dustin James: FICTION. While I have BJ Penn winning this fight, I still see Diego Sanchez coming out and giving Penn a good hard tough fight. Diego has a tendency to come out INTENSE before his fights and you can bet your ass he's motivated to not only upset the #1 lightweight in the world, but win his first UFC title in the process. No matter how I play this fight out in my head though, I can't see either guy being able to stop the other guy. While Penn has had no trouble stopping Joe Stevenson, Sean Sherk, and Kenny Florian....Diego has never been finished in a fight and as much as I love Penn, I don't think he'll be the first guy to finish "The Nightmare". I got Penn winning a close unanimous-decision fight (as close to a unanimous-decision as you can get at least...), so let's just hope we get a good UFC main event because it could be awhile before we get one of those.......

Larry Csonka: FACT. Ugh, this one sucks to pick, but is a great one to discuss. While Sanchez has never been finished, I just think that BJ Penn is on another level than just about every other lightweight and can be the guy to finish him. Stevenson, Sherk, Ken Flo, all stopped by BJ, and impressively at that. And on the other hand, you have Sanchez, who is in the zone right now. If he comes out with the fire and intensity that he did in the Guida fight, he could overwhelm Penn and finish him. On both sides there is a good case for someone to end this before round four, and that is why I think the fight ends by round three. Should be pretty damn awesome.

SCORE: 3 for 4.



5. TUF10 was one of the top 3 seasons in the shows history as far as entertainment.

Dustin James: FICTION. As much as I loved the whole "Kimbo Slice/Roy Nelson/Rashad Evans/"Rampage" Jackson" appeal of this season, I gotta say....in the end, it really wasn't all that great. Most of the fights sucked, and most of the fighters on the show had personalities that made you dislike them (aside from one or two of the guys like Marcus Jones). As far as my top 3 seasons? Well, that's easy. I'll take season 1, season 3, and season 8 over season 10 any day.

Season one is way better than TUF 10 due to the personalities involved, the fights that went down, and just the historical significance of the show. Season three was better because I had a buddy on the show (WAR ED HERMAN~!), Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock made for some entertaining coaches, plus you had the annoying Rory Singer to hate. Then of course, season 8 had the lovely Junie Browning factor. I don't care what you say, no one on TUF 10 was more entertaining than Junie Browning.

So, there you go. I didn't even have to get into any of the other "Ultimate Fighters" before I realized that season 10 was not one of my favorites......

Larry Csonka: FACT. While I will fully agree that most of the fights were bad, maybe a few of the worst TUF fights ever actually, as far as entertainment goes, I really enjoyed the season and right now, it is in my top seasons. First of all we had the Kimbo factor and the reaction to him. From there, we got to see the evolution of Kimbo, and how the opinions of him changed. I really liked that personally. And then there was Big baby, a scary beast of a man who also had a flower arranging soft side. From there, there was douche-bag Mitrione and his scrambled brain, which no matter what he said, was using to cover up a case of sandy vaginitis. Then we come to Rampage and Rashad, the best coaching feud I feel due to all of the awesome shit talk. Thankfully now that Rampage is coming back, we may actually get the fight we all want. And in closing, TITTIES!

SCORE: 3 for 5.

6. Clay Guida vs. Kenny Florian will win Fight of the Night honors at UFC 107.

Dustin James: FACT. Of course it is! It's Clay "The Carpenter" Guida man! His track record alone tells you that he's a favorite to win "Fight of the Night" honors. Out of his last 7 fights....3 of those fights have earned "Fight of the Night" honors. Those are incredible odds! However, that's not the impressive stat. The impressive stat is that Guida has earned "FotN" honors in his last two fights alone! How can that NOT impress you? I personally can't wait for Saturday night where we will get Clay Guida trying to hug his way to a decision victory over Kenny Florian! COUNT ME IN~!!!

(While that was typed with pure sarcasm, I do indeed expect him to walk away with Fight of the Night honors. The only fight that could top this one would be Penn/Sanchez, so I guess we shall see....)

Larry Csonka: FACT. I think that Penn vs. Sanchez can and likely will be awesome, but I just can't bet against Clay Guida here. As I discussed in the MMA Top 5, the guy is my favorite lightweight fighter. I know he will never win the UFC Lightweight title or be considered for that spot, but the dude has great fights, wars in the cage. Ken Flo is coming off of the loss to BJ Penn and will be looking to not only win the fight, but start impressing the UFC brass to try and get another title shot. Dustin's sarcasm is always appreciated, but I seriously think that this fight will kick ass. WAR GUIDA, CAPTAIN CAVEMAN RULES!

SCORE: 4 for 6.

Larry and Dustin started like Kimbo vs. Houston with both men tentative to disagree but things picked when Larry decided to drop Dustin on his head with the CSONKA DRIVA.



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